AU hails Ethiopia for release of political prisoners

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has hailed the release of political opposition leaders who were detained by the incumbent Ethiopian government.

In a statement released on Saturday, Faki said the release was already a step towards a successful political dialogue to settle political disputes faced by the federal government.

“I welcome this important gesture of appeasement of the political situation in Ethiopia. I sincerely hope that it will be the trigger for a political process, paving the way for the implementation of a genuinely inclusive national dialogue process for the peaceful and consensual solution to the political and institutional problems facing the federation,” he said.

The Chairperson assured the government of Ethiopia and all the peace parties of the support of the African Union.

Before the Christmas celebration, the Ethiopian Ambassador to South Sudan, Nebil Mahdi, accused the international media of meddling in their national issues by use of sensationalism and brewing fake news in support of TPLF.

“Even some of the giant international media have fallen from their grace by being architects of fake news. The kind of reporting and framing of events, for instance, the war in Ethiopia, is an important illustrator of the case in point,” Ambassador Mahdi said.

“These international media houses open another war front by being the mouthpiece of the TPLF criminal enterprise and disseminating misinformation about the conflict in Ethiopia,” he added.

He said that the country would team up with other countries that eye the practice as neocolonialism to kick such media practices out of Africa.

 “To denounce such meddling in our internal affairs by some western nations and their agencies, the Ethiopian Community, African brothers and friends of Ethiopia from around the world including here in South Sudan are participating to answer calls of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Greater Ethiopian Home Coming,” Mahdi stated.

The ambassador clarified that the Ethiopian government was ready to go to the negotiation table with TPLF but said the government would continue with military offensive “till the TPLF come to their senses.”

 “The government has recaptured almost all towns in Amhara and Afar regions. We have witnessed the brutal atrocities and catastrophes committed by the TPLF. The group has shown its irresponsible nature by looting and demolishing health Centres, schools and universities. Regrettably, this got the attention of neither an international journalist nor a human rights activist,’’ he lamented.

Opposition leaders freed

Ethiopia’s state-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday revealed the release of the opposition leaders as the government said it would begin a dialogue with the opposition, a report by Reuters has shown.

The move to free the opposition leaders has come after 14 months of political unrest which had resulted in the killing, arrest and displacement of civilians.

Among the leaders freed are some of the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been raging with the government, thus, disturbing the country’s peace.

“The key to lasting peace is dialogue. One of the moral obligations of a victor is mercy,” said a statement from the government communications office.

The state broadcaster announced the list including Bekele Gerba who is a senior leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress Party and Jawar Mohammed, the founder of the Oromiya Media Network.

The two hail from Oromiya  of Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s political stronghold, which had been bearing perceptions of political marginalisation and human rights abuses by the security apparatus.

Samuel Bekele, the son of Bekele Gerba tweeted that the aforementioned men who were charged with terrorism offenses in September 2020 were released.

Another leader who was released was the leader of Balderas for Genuine Democracy Opposition Party Eskinder Nega. He was a journalist and blogger who hailed from the Amhara ethnic group.

Notably, Abay Weldu, the former president of Tigray and Sephat Nega the founder of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front were also released.

In an interview with Reuters, Will Davison, a senior Ethiopian Analyst, said the announcement was “the first signs in some time that the federal government is looking to take serious actions towards political reconciliation,” adding that the prisoners were few and could not signal the end of the war.